Riley Still Undecided On Starting Five

TAMPA — With one exhibition game remaining and eight days before the final 15-man roster must be turned in, Heat coach Pat Riley still isn't set on a starting lineup.

"The starting lineup is not that important today," said Riley, who returned after a two-game absence. "It may not be important in the first game of the year. It may develop later. What's important is that the guys play well at the right time, right now."

So who's the starting five?

"I have no idea right now. They have to prove it," Riley said.

Well, Riley did finally give free-agent pickup Travis Best his first start at the point in Sunday's 85-80 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

He also gave 7-foot-1 center Vladimir Stepania a start against Detroit's 7-footer Zeljko Rebraca, and shifted Brian Grant back to power forward.

Unfortunately, neither Best nor Stepania were effective.

"It's still preseason and coach has some cuts to make and needs to take his looks," said Best, who finished with four points and five assists in 29 minutes.

Eddie Jones is a lock at the two-guard, but Riley crossed up matters by starting Rasual Butler over fellow rookie Caron Butler at small forward. Perhaps it was a message after Caron's invisible three-point (0-2) effort against the Spurs on Saturday.

MRI FOR MALIK

Heat forward Malik Allen, who has averaged 11.4 points on 50 percent from the field in five games, will undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the sprained medial collateral ligament of his right knee.

Allen, who has played his way into a possible starting spot, was in better spirits a day after colliding with Stepania.

His confidence also is up after scoring 19 points against Atlanta's All-Star forward tandem of Glenn Robinson and Shareef Abdur-Rahim on Thursday.

"Thinking you can do it and then going out and doing it are two different things," he said. "I'll just have to pick it up where I left off."

STAN'S THE MAN

Riley praised his co-head coach Stan Van Gundy.

"He does exactly what it is I tell him to do and he does it right," Riley said. "He's an exceptional coach, and I feel comfortable turning it over. ... He should be on every short list for teams looking for coaches right now."

Home-court advantage

The reason the Heat was the road team Saturday is that Pistons owner William Davidson also owns the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum, formerly known as the Ice Palace.

Pistons' Reid out

Pistons forward Don Reid, who was acquired along with 7-0 Mengke Bateer from Denver on Oct. 12 for Rodney White, tore his right Achilles' tendon in the second quarter and will be out for the season.